P00047_JA21-061_Approved_Marked for Redaction_Redacted.pdf

JUSTIFICATION & APPROVAL (J&A) FOR FEDERAL ACQUISITION

REGULATION (FAR) SUBPART 16.5 ACQUISITIONS

EXCEPTION TO FAIR OPPORTUNITY

Multiple Award Schedule/Multiple Award Contract (MAC)

Orders under MAC/ Fair Opportunity – FAR 16.505, Department of Defense (DoD) FAR Supplement (DFARS) 216.505-70, Procedures, Guidance and Information (PGI) 216.505-70

Purchase Request Number: To be determined Contract Number: HHSN316201200036W Task Order Number: HC104719F0002 Procurement Title: Global Command and Control System – Joint (GCCS-J) Software Sustainment and Maintenance Estimated Value:

Statutory and Regulatory Authority: 10 U.S.C. 2304c(b) and FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(C)

EXCEPTION TO FAIR OPPORTUNITY

Number: JA21-061

Upon the basis of the following justification, I, as the Senior Procurement Executive, hereby approve this exception to fair opportunity pursuant to the Statutory Authority of 10 U.S.C.

2304c(b) and Regulatory Authority of FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(C).

1. REQUIRING AGENCY AND CONTRACTING ACTIVITY:

Requiring Agency:

Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) Development Business Center (DBC) Services Development Directorate (SD), SD4 6910 Cooper Ave.

Fort Meade, MD 20755

Contracting Activity:

DISA

Procurement Services Directorate (PSD) Defense Information Technology Contracting Organization National Capital Region, PL62 6910 Cooper Ave.

Fort Meade, MD 20755

2. NATURE/DESCRIPTION OF ACTION(S): The purpose of this J&A is to modify the GCCS-J Software Sustainment and Maintenance task order to (a) increase the task order ceiling by from to which includes (b) an increase in the surge contract line item number (CLIN). The ceiling increase is required to support the current sustainment and modernization of the GCCS-J system. This action will support the

Task Order Number: HC104719F0002 GCCS-J Software Sustainment and Maintenance-JA21-061

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GCCS-J sustainment and modernization activities and allow the GCCS-J Program Management Office (PMO) to continue to respond rapidly to real world operational events and other emergent/emergency warfighter requirements. This action will be funded with fiscal year (FY) 2020 Research, Development, Test & Evaluation funds and FY2021/2022 Software and Technology Budget Activity Eight (BA-8) funds.

The task order features a hybrid CLIN structure including firm fixed-price (FFP) and cost plus fixed fee (CPFF) CLINs for labor, and cost reimbursement (CR) CLINs for travel and other direct costs.

3. DESCRIPTION OF SUPPLIES/SERVICES: The current GCCS-J Software Sustainment and Maintenance task order provides contract management support, systems engineering support, deployment and operational support, software sustainment support, training and technical documentation support, coalition support, and support of foreign military sales via the SD and DISA. This action enables the sustainment of the GCCS-J operational baseline, continues development of the v6.0 capability, and provides incremental modernization to Joint All Domain Command and Control (JADC2) objectives, which include all domain situational awareness and enterprise deployment. The work described in this J&A will be performed from the date of award through the end of the task order, 06 December 2022, as specified below.

FY21 Option Year (OY) 2 Requirements:

a) Modernization

• Web Client additional capabilities

• Map Server

• Missile Event Alerts

• Air Tasking Order

• GCCS-J Logical Data Model

• Container Orchestration

b) Enterprise Deployment

c) JADC2 Assessment

d) Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) Compliance

e) External Customer Support

f) Joint Planning and Execution Community Collaboration Tool (JCT) Development

FY22 OY 3 Requirements:

a) Modernization

• Web client additional capabilities

• Continue ATO/ACO Support

• Continue Container Orchestration migration

• Joint Staff (JS) J3 Operations, Orion / Global Laydown Server (GLS) Interface

• Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Air Traffic Monitoring

• Communication management framework updates

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• Improved Data Services

• Maritime Anomaly Detection Using

• Source to Storage prototype

• Data Synchronization prototype

• Further Modernization Efforts

b) Enterprise Deployment

c) JADC2 Assessment

d) IPv6 Compliance

e) External Customer Support

f) GCCS-J Support of Foreign Military Sales Cases

4. SUPPORTING RATIONALE, INCLUDING A DEMONSTRATION THAT THE

PROPOSED CONTRACTOR’S UNIQUE QUALIFICATIONS OR THE NATURE OF THE

ACQUISITION REQUIRES USE OF AN EXCEPTION TO FAIR OPPORTUNITY:

Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation (NG) is the only contractor positioned to assume full responsibility of the development activities for GCCS-J Version 6.x and the sustainment of the software baseline(s) while simultaneously modernizing the operationally fielded environment without an adverse impact to cost, schedule, and performance. NG has been supporting the development of these systems for over 18 years and designed the millions of unique, complex lines of code for the GCCS-J system baseline(s). The in-depth knowledge and experience of the complex code within the current GCCS-J baseline, provided by NG, will provide a concrete incremental development path to a modernized local and enterprise solution for users experiencing Denied, Disconnected, Intermittent and Low-Bandwidth (D-DIL) conditions as well as well-connected users, respectively.

It is estimated that a competitive task order award to support development of the above identified capabilities would take approximately 210 calendar days or seven (7) months based on the procurement action lead time. This course of action will negatively impact this effort and will adversely delay the modernization efforts aligned to JADC2 goals and objectives. Additionally, this delay would have a direct adverse impact on the GCCS-J user community, which includes the Joint-Staff-designated critical sites (Combatant Commands (COCOM), service components, etc.), services, and coalition partners that use GCCS-J at locations around the world and at multiple levels of commands. The schedule delays would result from the time necessary to compete and award a new task order, engage in transition activities, train a new contractor, obtain the necessary Top Secret (TS) security clearances for supporting personnel, and certify a SIPR Lab. These cost and schedule delays will be mitigated through modifying the current task order, which is currently being performed by NG.

Furthermore, a potential award to a new contractor would require that contractor to establish a SIPR-accredited laboratory in close proximity to DISA Headquarters at Ft. George G. Meade, MD to provide for continuity of operations. Accreditation of SIPR laboratories takes on average nine to 12 months to complete. NG, as the incumbent contractor, currently operates a SIPR-accredited laboratory within a three-hour commute from DISA Headquarters, with nearly 100

Page 4 of 8 Pages disclosure authorizations in place with all required external data/service providers in order to thoroughly, effectively secure and test GCCS-J systems in a classified operational environment.

For a system as large as GCCS-J, it is estimated that a contractor would require at least 40 engineering professionals with TS clearance. NG currently possesses more than 60 personnel with a TS or higher clearance performing on GCCS-J and has reach back capability to immediately on-board additional qualified, cleared personnel to support existing and emerging program requirements as necessary. Possessing fully cleared personnel allows NG to modernize the operationally fielded baseline in conjunction with development activities associated with GCCS-J Version 6.x in a seamless manner with no degradation to schedule. In contrast, a new contractor would have to on-board and clear at least 40 personnel at the TS level. The time frame for obtaining the TS security clearances for all personnel brought on-board by the new contractor is estimated to be nine to 12 months. In the interim, the development efforts would experience significant schedule delays.

An efficient and effective transition of the current GCCS-J baseline and subject matter expertise to another vendor would require, at a minimum, three months of duplicate costs ( ) for transition. Required transition activities would include:

• New contractor must become familiar with the GCCS-J software, data formats and feeds, and interfaces and then develop new capabilities in response to real world events, and at the same time modernize the existing baseline. It is estimated that a new developer would take a minimum of one year to become proficient with a software program as large and complex as GCCS-J (millions of lines of code)

• Turnover of all GCCS-J software, source code, and documentation to the new contractor

• Setup of GCCS-J source code repository and configuration management system at the new contractor’s facility

• Train new contractor on GCCS-J processes and documentation requirements for software deliveries

• Security accreditation of SIPR laboratories at contractor facilities

• Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency clearance

This estimated cost of using another contractor is comprised of the value of dual operations and development efforts between the incumbent contractor, NG, and the new contractor. Dual operations would be necessary to sustain the operational baseline while another contractor modernized the same baseline. In addition, given that no other contractor aside from NG possesses the knowledge and expertise to immediately assume responsibility for the modernization of the operational baseline, the Government would incur additional costs

Page 5 of 8 Pages associated with the new contractor familiarizing themselves with the existing code and diagnosing the level of effort required to complete the modernization actions. NG is already intimately familiar with the code and able to start immediately with the modernization activities from the date of award of this sole source action without additional exploratory or familiarization activities.

(a) Exception to Fair Opportunity IAW FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(C).

“The order must be issued on a sole source basis in the interest of economy and efficiency because it is a logical follow-on to an order already issued under the contract, provided that all awardees were given a fair opportunity to be considered for the original order.”

(b) Description of the Justification. The proposed sole source contractor, NG, currently performing under National Institutes of Health's Information Technology Acquisition and Assessment Center (NITAAC) Chief Information Officer-Solutions and Partners 3 (CIO- SP3) contract number HHSN316201200036W task order HC104719F0002, has successfully developed, sustained and supported the GCCS-J system for over 18 years.

The GCCS-J system provides mission critical capabilities to the C2 warfighting community and requires continuous and uninterrupted support to the deployed mission critical GCCS-J software baseline(s). As the developer and sustainment contractor for the GCCS-J software, NG is uniquely postured to sustain and incrementally modernize the existing software capabilities with minimum interruptions.

In addition to the required modernization development efforts for the existing GCCS-J software baseline, the GCCS-J PMO requires the continued development efforts and fielding of GCCS-J Version 6.x. NG began development of version 6.x in October 2013, and the JS J3 signed a memorandum in August 2019 declaring GCCS-J Version 6.0.1.2 suitable for operational use beginning 01 September 2019. However, there are additional releases to the v6 baseline that still need to be developed, tested, and released with critical capabilities in order to meet the operational requirements that have been validated by JS J3/J6 and the user community. Moreover, GCCS-J PMO continues to receive numerous site installation and troubleshooting requests from the COCOMs and emergent / operational warfighter requirements that require the GCCS-J PMO to rapidly respond to emerging requirements arising from real world events to include meeting DoD’s JADC2 objectives.

Given the highly skilled, uniquely qualified, and appropriately cleared resources required to incrementally modernize the existing GCCS-J baseline, it is not in the Government’s best interest to re-compete the development services for GCCS-J for the current increase being requested. The task order re-compete effort is currently being worked in parallel with a planned award date of July 2022.

The likelihood of another contractor being able to complete the 6.x development, and provide Subject Matter Expert sites installation/troubleshooting support while incrementally modernizing the existing baseline is highly unlikely. Further, the

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Government does not anticipate cost savings to be recovered through competition for the duration of this task order.

The sole source award of this effort to NG will be for the remainder of OY 2 and OY 3 and will provide sufficient time to modernize, continued capability development of GCCS-J, and maintenance of the software baseline(s).

(c) Justification.

(1) Minimum Government requirements. The contractor is responsible for the design, development, integration, and fielding of the GCCS-J system as a state-of-the-art IT solution that will incrementally modernize and continue to add mission critical capability to the GCCS-J local enclaves while deploying capability to an enterprise instance based on JS J3 / J6 prioritization. The Government will continue to provide DoD C2 situational awareness via a common operational picture and intelligence products for the warfighter on a global scale. The contractor is required to develop modernized GCCS-J capabilities, applications, interfaces, data ingests, and correlators needed to meet warfighter requirements and to allow warfighter transition to an enterprise GCCS-J system when and where applicable. The modernized GCCS-J effort will use an agile approach in cadence with development security operations (DevSecOps) processes. The agile development methods will utilize the DevSecOps construct for frequent software delivery to the Government-owned enclave for testing and production deployment. The Government also requires the incumbent to be able to respond to the real world events that are needed in a timely manner.

(2) Proposed sole source contractor. The proposed sole source contractor is Northrop

Grumman Systems Corporation, 7575 Colshire Drive, McLean, VA, 22102-7508.

(3) Discussion regarding cause of the sole source situation. This ceiling increase will address multiple new requirements, which have become known since the time of award. For example, the agency’s pivot decision to merge the former GCCS-Joint Enterprise (JE) with the GCCS-J program, the addition of JADC2, increased requirements from the service components (e.g., Navy, EUCOM) to provide additional operational support and trainings, and to address the increased support for FMS cases, which either did not exist as part of the original contract award or have significantly increased.

No other contractor can meet or satisfy these requirements without negatively impacting the GCCS-J PMO delivery capabilities schedule that addresses COCOMs emergent/operational warfighter requirements arising from real world events.

(4) Demonstration of unique source. NG is the incumbent contractor and has provided

GCCS-J software sustainment and modernization services for over 18 years. NG is currently in the process of developing additional mission-essential capabilities for GCCS-J Version 6.x. These capabilities must be developed, tested, and deployed to

Page 7 of 8 Pages the field in order to meet the operational requirements that have been validated by the JS J3/J6 and the user community.

(5) Procurement discussion. To date, there are no other contractors that would be qualified to sustain the GCCS-J operational baseline, complete the development of the v6.0 capability, and incrementally modernize to JADC2 objectives given the remaining life of the task order ending in December 2022. NG, the developer of this product, is the only contractor with the knowledge of the design and architecture along with the open source, Commercial off the Shelf (COTS) and Government off the Shelf (GOTS) software subsystems and components that comprise the GCCS-J C2 solution. In addition, NG possesses the knowledge and expertise to the current fielded GCCS-J baselines and can respond rapidly and immediately to operational issues.

(6) Impact. Failure to increase the current task order ceiling will result in significant cost and schedule impacts to the warfighter as articulated in Section 4 above.

5. COST/PRICE FAIR AND REASONABLE DETERMINATION:

The Contracting Officer shall determine fair and reasonable pricing utilizing one or more of the methods identified in FAR 15.404, and will include comparisons of respective labor rates from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) published contract rates. In addition, comparison will be made to historical prices paid on previous contracts administered by DISA. The current task order was awarded on December 6, 2018. In accordance with FAR 15.403(a)(1), certified cost and pricing data will be required as the value of the modification will exceed the threshold for contracts awarded after July 1, 2018.

6. MARKET RESEARCH:

Market research was conducted as part of the preparation of this J&A over the course of 28 April

– 03 May 2021. Additionally, the ongoing market research for the follow-on to task order HC104719F0002 was also leveraged. Multiple queries of the Dynamic Small Business Search Database returned no viable vendors capable of meeting the requirements cited in this J&A.

Research was also conducted against vendors on the DISA Systems Engineering, Technology & Innovation (SETI) vehicle, as well as the NITAAC CIO-SP3 contract; however, no additional viable vendors were identified that are capable of meeting the emergent requirements. A query of the DISA Market Research Repository was performed; however, no similar efforts were identified.

Market research for this J&A, as well as for the follow on showed limited vendors capable of providing the required support. While these limited number of vendors are capable of providing the required services necessary to modernize the GCCS-J system, there are no vendors, aside from NG, capable of delivering the required near-term incremental modernization of the system to address the emerging requirements of the warfighter as stated above.